Syrian accused of seeking ISIS attack money tried in Germany

A Syrian man accused of seeking 180,000 euros ($200,000) from someone he thought was a member of ISIS to finance attacks in Europe has gone on trial in Germany.

News agency dpa reported that the 38-year-old's trial opened Friday at the state court in Saarbruecken. He is charged with attempted participation in murder.

The defendant's lawyer has said that he never intended to carry out an attack and only pretended that he did to get money for himself. He is accused of contacting a man via Facebook at the end of 2016 who he believed belonged to ISIS and could provide money to carry out attacks.

Authorities have accused the defendant of planning a bomb attack or attacks in Germany and neighboring countries.